first draft

I've printed out copies of scenes for a creative workshop I attended a few years ago. Does that count?

 

I printed out the completed first draft because I wanted hard copy to edit. After a round of revision, I printed a second draft, and another round of corrections. The 3rd draft goes to my beta-readers.

 

Never. I've printed stuff out before, but it had no effect on how I edit/revise. So I might as well save some paper and ink.

 

I haven't used hard copy to aid editing. I find the contents table feature in word very useful. My novel is broken down into small sections, each with a title. The contents table gives an overview of everything and tells you which page each part is on.

 

This. I've done it and having it in paper form just didn't provide any sort of other dynamic that supports the expense of doing it.

 

It makes sense to read and edit off the computer, doesn't it?

Trouble is, that's not how I read. I write at my desk with my desktop computer and customised setup, but when it comes to reading, that just doesn't work for me. I guess I'm old-fashioned. I seem to need a hard copy to sit and read in comfort—and to scribble on. I may invest in a tablet at some stage, but not just yet.

I not only print off my own story to edit, but I also print off any I'm beta-reading. I often use what my journalist husband calls 'gash' paper ...re-using paper that is printed on one side only. I have an old printer and am able to buy cheap ink cartridges on eBay, so expense isn't a big deal either.

So far this suits me, but I may morph into a tablet reader at some stage. I really don't like laptops though. I hate having to charge them up all the time, the fact that they get hot, and most of all, I hate the flat keyboards. (I do own a laptop that I never use for all these reasons.) So ...for the time being it's print, paper and pen to scribble with!

 

I recently wrote an article that discussed 5 strategies' to edit one's work. Printing out a manuscript was one of them. It can be very effective.

Here's the link to the article if anyone's interested: Five Strategies for Self-Editing

 

This is me, as well. I'm very comfortable editing on my computer, and the price of ink is just way too high to justify printing out anything that isn't going to be read by more eyes than just my own.

I do, however, print out pieces I'm going to critique--more so that I can read them anywhere (since I hate using my phone for internet). But when I do, I cut the margins really close, shrink the font, and print it on fast draft so that I'm minimizing my paper and ink usage.

 

I tried to find a few threads about first draft writing, but did not feel like my understanding of it wasn't answered well enough. I understand that a first draft is not to be expected as a final output, although some claim it could come close, but what is it you are aiming for exactly?

I am not a dedicated writer so that creates a problem for me since I am not keeping close tabs on where I am in my story. I also have jumped around a bit trying to capture some ideas before they escape my memory. I have written an outline and tried to develop a chapter list so that if I want to jump around I can put things in what I hope is a good place, however finishing a chapter has been problematic due to my lack of dedication, I have to reread what I have written in order to continue, but then I see problems in what I have written and try to fix them right then. But in some instances it has sounded like a first draft is just pouring out your story without any significant edits. I don't feel like that is anything I could live with, too much would bother me about something so poorly written and having a slight fear that plot holes would develop that would essentially negate my effort. I don't want to write the same story a half dozen times and still not be any closer to completion.

So please explain what is the target of the first draft? I know this will vary greatly from person to person, but each response on this forum seems to help me understand the task of writing a bit more, in the end I have to pick and choose what seems to apply for me, and some guidance is helpful.

Thanks in advance for responses and suggestions.

 

There are so many elements involved with writing the first draft, and yes, every single writer develops their own method - and sometimes it's the book itself that dictates the methods used.

So just to list a few variables (in no specific order):

Outline or 'discovery' - do you work best with a plan (of whatever detail) or are you more productive just writing?

Edit as you go or after the draft is finished?

Write in order or as scenes come to you?

I'm sure there are others but these seem to be the ones that give folks the most trouble. Each has its pros and cons, but again, which is which depends on the writer.

Bear in mind, there is a spectrum for each of these, and myriad combinations. Beginning writers often want someone to tell them which one is best, but that simply can't be done. You may need a detailed outline to keep track of your story so you can write out of order and edit as you go. You may prefer not using any outline, write in order but without regard to plot holes or grammer and then edit/revise after you've got it all finished.

Basically, you have to try everything and give it an honest effort. If it doesn't work, you modify or switch to something else. Eventually you'll find the combination that lets you finish successfully. I wish it were easier, but ...

As to my own preference, I try to write as clean a first draft as humanly possible. I don't outline, I write in order, I edit/revise as I go.

As to your "dedication", if you want to be published at some point, you need to learn to discipline yourself. I always urge new writers to write every day, either for a set amount of time or a set amount of words, whether or not it's on the current project. The point is to develop the habit of writing regularly. Once that habit develops, you'll find it much easier not to procrastinate.

 

I agree with the writing regularly comment. It will always be hard for you to finish a work if you are going back and having to read everything you wrote just to get ready to write. This will get even harder and more time consuming as your story grows. Imagine having to read 50 or 100 pages of a work just to get started writing.

I try to find a balance between writing and editing. So I usually write for a couple days then go through and edit for a day or two. Obviously, this isn't a rock solid schedule. Sometimes I write for a week or more before I decide to go back and edit while other times I edit every other day.

Try different strategies and approaches until you find one that works for you. Dump the ones that restrict your writing and embrace the ones that enhance your writing.

 

Good question, @tonguetied. I wondered about this myself recently and wrote about it in one of my blog entries (The Heed for Speed). I have found myself writing very slow and not moving along until the paragraph or page I had just written was pretty much done to my liking, so that by the time I finish the story it's nearly a final draft. Of course I go over it again and make small changes, but for the most part it's good to go. I'm not sure I enjoy this type of writing, as things don't flow and it's not "therapeutic" I guess. In the above blog entry I mention a podcast I listened to called Fiction School. I recommend listening to episode #34. Perhaps that will help you. Good luck!


~Chad Lutzke

 

I'm aiming for something like a very detailed outline. So my first draft is basically me just getting my thoughts on the page. It's definitely not something I would show anyone. (Which reminds me of what Hemingway said to F. Scott Fitzgerald: "I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.")

 

For me, a first draft would mean that the entire story had been written in narrative (rather than outline or "write this later") form and I didn't have any remaining REALLY HUGE plot holes--like, oh, half of half the characters' actions in the second half of the novel are driven by their grief about Fred's death and then I decide not to kill Fred after all.

I wouldn't officially care about writing quality--that is, even if the quality was awful, I'd still consider it a first draft if it fulfilled the above description. That doesn't mean that I'd forbid any editing, just that I wouldn't require it. I'm assuming that no matter how carefully I polish as I go along, I'll be making multiple drafts after the first one anyway.

 

The quality of my first draft has changed over the years but for the most part I just want to get the story out. For novels I tend to come up with a fairly organized storyline or list of events that I refer to ( but not always ). Sometimes I wing it by daydreaming ( and having a few scenes stored in my head that I know are upcoming ). First draft is all about getting the bones
down. I want that line, the character's journey from point a to point b. It will be flawed, sketchy, thin in areas and overwinded in other areas ( some scenes will echo each other and be redundant ) and there will be large looming plotholes but it doesn't matter as long as it's down on paper/computer. Because no matter how flawed it is - I can work with it.

- In the first draft I want to see a hint of something deeper, a good tone and a fix-upable plot. Everything else can be added or fixed. Without those three things though, I feel the draft is pointless.

 

I give myself a goal word count of approximately 80,000 words for a first draft, a common novel size. My first draft is mostly me just writing, I might go back and change something or read over it if I hit a writer block (I've found reading over my work usually fixes a writer block, my writer block usually comes from writing something the wrong way or something is right, after I fix it the writer block will be gone).

By the time I get to the end of my first draft my characters are a bit flat (usually at the beginning of my book) and I have a lot of tense problems in my books. Though the majority of the time it is the exact storyline that will be in the final draft, my first novel is in its second draft now and I went through and changed several sections in it during the my first once over, and I now have my completed storyline, the rest of my drafts will involve me completing the editing process, one time after another (I'm still too close to the story to be an objective editor, since I'm writing the sequels, I won't be able to edit until I finish the first draft of my third book at the end of this year). I don't plan any of my novels, most of the time I don't have the slightest clue about where the book will end until I'm almost writing the end, except for my third book I have a basic idea about how its going to end but I have no idea what's going to happen in the middle.

I agree with everyone else, find your own method, make it your method, your process, like you said in your OP everyone has a different method, no two methods or expectations of completing the first draft will be the same. Sometimes its not good to have high expectations for your work, at least not while it's in the rough stages, having those expectations can be great for your story but it can be bad for you if you find that you can't meet them in that first draft, it can destroy your motivation and your confidence in your writing.

What do you expect from yourself in a first draft? How can you ensure that you meet your expectations?

I recommend choosing a basic common method most people use in their own process, try it, change it, make it work for you

Amanda

 

I think you get to define what "first draft" means to you, at least for the most part. If you visualize the final version being a "first draft + some editing" you are going to need a first draft that is fairly far along. On the other hand if you see the first draft as just an approximation to the story it could be quite rough.

For me, "first draft" suggests that the story is complete in the sense that there are no obvious unfinished parts and the various characters and subplots are in place in a reasonably consistent way. I see a first draft as being readable with enjoyment even if there are some things still out of whack.

 

First let me thank all of you for your responses, I was sort of afraid that the answer was going to be a bit like this: whatever works for you. Since this is my first attempt at writing that is an unknown entity.

While writing a chapter I realized that I am not adding any background or scene description thinking I can add that later, however I am wondering if that makes the first draft what I wrote without fill, for lack of a better word, or should I only consider it a first draft after I add in the details. OK, by details I mean things that are not truly the story line, just stuff to give it color or life. I have recently introduced myself to Craig Johnson's work and he uses a lot of descriptive language that is not really the story but it probably does set the stage in ways that I don't even realize. I seem to be writing almost exclusively dialogue which reads as flat as a pancake run over by a truck, so I know it needs a lot of additional work. I have read several posts where people suggest putting the story away for a few weeks or even months at the conclusion of the first draft, that this step seems to be important to let your mind clear and see the whole thing in fresh perspective. I am a big believer in "can't see the forest for the trees", so it makes sense to me.

Writing this post may be clearing my view of this subject, I think I will work on my dialogue and then go back immediately to add background descriptions to punch it up. After that I will consider it a first draft for later "first" review/edit. At this point I am not even sure I have introduced my MC, the story in my head doesn't seem to revolve around an MC but I am fairly certain one will emerge before it is over, however it may be a robot rather than a human. I guess I sound obstinate about this first draft concept, but I think I need to understand it more fully to give myself some structure to aim for.

Finally, I got angst reading Stephen King, and that was just from his book "On Writing", when he, like most if not all of you, declare that you have to spend a lot of time on writing nearly every day or it will never get done. Point taken, but not well received in all likelihood. I think my goal is to simply write this book and not really worry if I ever pursue publication, more of a bucket list sort of thing.

Thanks to all, great suggestions and instructions.

 

@tonguetied
Getting yourself into a writing routine is hard and it takes a lot to discipline your mind to sit there and write for several hours a day. A lot of the members that replied to your post have probably been writing for several years, it takes time to find out how to work your own mojo. I have been writing for almost 7 years now and I only got the hang of my own writing methods at the start of this year.

It sounds like you are a fairly new writer, so don't bum yourself out if you haven't worked out your own process yet, this takes time, for now just focus on the project, don't even care if it gets published, worry about that later. Since it is your first attempt you will probably find that you will rewrite your first novel so many times that it is completely different from your original idea, it took me the better part of the last 6 years to write my first novel and I believe about 10 different versions, all of them more different then the first one, but I am told by my friend that my finished novel is similar to the first version of my book which was hand written and probably all of 10,000 words, now in the second draft of it's latest version I have 81,000 words and a plot line that I'm happy with.

It will take time for you to learn and grow as a writer, pretty much everyone here will tell you that. I suggest reading everything you can, about writing, about creating plot lines from basic ideas, about creating good characters, anything that might help you build your novel until you're proud of all the work you've put into it. I also suggest that you ask questions, even ones you think are silly, nobody here will laugh at your questions, we were all new writers once too. Find out if you have a writer's festival in your town/city or in a nearby town/city go to workshops and find out as much as you can about the writing and publishing industry, it will only help you in the long run.

 

So in my short time that I've been back here, I've read a lot of pointers from many of you about how important the re-writing process is, as dreaded as it may be. I would agree with that, though I've never redone a first draft myself so I don't really know what opinion I have on this. I thought I'd ask some of you about your own thoughts and personal experience on this.

In general, I wonder how much disparity exists between the first draft and final version. Does it have to be a complete rewrite? Or could it be that you move around a few things, add/delete chapters, and rewrite a few? Along those lines, would it just be about improving the literary value, or could it entail revamping plot details, or both? How much time would a rewrite take?

I didn't post this in the publishing forum because my concern is not only making the first draft of publishable quality, but a general appraisal of how this process of writing, which I'm not acquainted with, works. Looking forward to your views

 

I edit/revise as I go, so other than polishing, first draft = final draft.

 

Let's see...

I kept the core of my story, all my characters, many of the scenes and some of the dialogue and actual wording. But I sure changed a lot else.

I managed to cut more than a third of my original word count.

I learned how unconsciously using passive voice could deaden a scene.

I learned to cut away wads of melodrama, leaving dryer but more convincing character interactions.

I learned to throw away entire chapters if they didn't move the story forward. When I wrote them they seemed necessary, but afterward I realised I didn't need them. I liked them ...but removed them. I also changed the order of chapters, for a smoother presentation of points of view.

I learned to recognise words and phrases that I over-used, and to replace these words with other words or find a different way to say what I meant.

I had a problem with restating things. I would say something, then say it again a different way—sometimes more than once. Things like: Sue felt really silly about leaving her handbag on the bus. She couldn't imagine why she'd done it, but it made her feel particularly stupid. Just forgetting a bag didn't mean she was actually stupid, of course, but it did make her feel like hiding her face. What an incredibly silly thing to do, she said to herself. (You can cut at least two of these sentences and still be left with the gist of what you wanted to say.)

I think the most important thing I did during my various edits was to focus my story. I learned to put emphasis on certain passages, make a character say something direct that would either send the reader in a certain direction, OR be something the reader would remember when they needed to, later on.

There were little hints and foreshadowings that I built into the narrative as I went along, but some of these pointers got missed by my beta readers. Any time a beta reader said "oh, who is this guy?" or "I didn't know all three of them watched that happen" or any other questions that meant they'd missed or forgotten something important, I went back, found the passages where the forshadowing or explanation was, and strengthened it.

For example, one of my characters wears a special knife. Many chapters pass between the time he first appears with the knife, and when he appears again, very physically changed. Our main character identifies him because of the knife, but many of my readers were baffled because I only MENTIONED the knife in earlier scenes. I had to go back and make the character's possession of that particular knife more memorable, so the reader would recognise him when the main character does—when he reappears near the end of the story with the special knife at his hip.

If a minor character whom you introduce early on will reappear later in an important role, you must make this character memorable in some way when you first introduce him. It doesn't have to be a big deal, but a big enough deal that when they pop up again, the reader isn't going ...who's that?

There is another side to that coin, though. When you edit—especially if it's a complicated story that takes place over a long period of time—try NOT to hit the reader with too many character names. The man behind a counter doesn't need a name unless he plays a large role in your story. If his only role is to sell your main character a postage stamp, he doesn't need a name. Ditto the waitress in the diner (unless the story is set in the diner and she's one of the main characters) the pilot of the jumbo jet the MC takes to Paris, the names of every player on the football team the MC is watching on TV, etc etc. If the MC's daughter walks home from school with four girlfriends, unless the friends are specifically important to the story, we don't need to know their names.

This is an amazingly simple little trick that can lift your writing. Too many characters or too much information that isn't really interesting or pertinent will bog a story down. This is another thing you look out for during an edit. Simplify and focus.

This might sound daunting, but it's not. It's almost as much fun as writing the first time. Writing the first time is when your ideas and genius pop out of you. Editing is when you make these ideas and genius accessible to others.

 

I'm with this. It's what Dostoevsky or Tolstoy would have done if they'd had a computer with MS Word. It would drive me mad writing the same thing over and over again. They didn't have a choice, because constantly scribbling things out and writing over ink on paper would have made it impossible to follow.

I honestly think that 1st Draft - 2nd Draft - Final Draft is an outdated method of working.

 

How long it takes you to edit the draft and how much is taken out is entirely based on what kind of "first draft" writer you are. I long to be a fast rough draft writer but I'm not. I'm very slow because I usually don't move on to the next paragraph until I'm completely happy with the first. By the time I'm done with the rough draft it's basically a final draft 1.0. I then go over it looking for any inconsistencies I may have missed and read it out loud to make sure the sentences flow nicely. I also give copies to my wife and oldest son and ask them to look for errors or things they may not like about it. I usually give it at least one more run through and it's done.

I know there are a lot of people who type their first draft very fast and just let things flow out, not stopping to change things. This works for some people and for some it doesn't. We're all unique individuals and so what may not work for someone else may work for you. There are no rules. If you can write a good story regardless of your editing and writing methods then you're doing it right.

 

I revise and edit as I go but then, my first draft is always written in parts and out of sequence. In other words, as parts come to mind, I write them down and give them individual filenames which includes the date in the timeline when they happen. This keeps them in order for me.

When my mind won't work on the new stuff, that's when I revise and edit.

Then I piece each section together with the glue scenes, the stuff that happens in-between the major scenes. This is when most of the major story changes take place and also when I concentrate on continuity of characters, places, times of the year.

Then comes chapterization (yes, I know that's not a real word) that's when I do a complete read through and divide up my book into chapters. At this point I also check formatting and make sure that all the fonts and point sizes are correct. (it always surprises me how things can change on their own, like damn commas, punctuation marks, apostrophes ...)

As I chapterize, I double check continuity and anything I've had to do in-depth research for (like medical, legal or technical) and I do another read through.

It then gets sent to my editor and various test readers while I concentrate on covers.

Readers email me periodically about various parts and my editor sends a copy back in sections with her revisions. We discuss revisions and I have the final say as to what needs changing from the story side of things.

I make necessary changes and do another read through and then I leave it a few days to sink in. Then I sort out half title pages, blank pages, facing pages, acknowledgements, dedications and page numbers and then I upload.

Were I looking for an agent/publisher, this is where I would start submitting. With self publishing I upload to kindle and then spend a few weeks doing the necessary reformatting to PDF to upload to createspace for the paperback copy.

Phew! *wipes brow*